The State Government has indicated intentions to raise ₹15,000 crore in the first quarter of the current financial year through open market borrowings.
The State will borrow the amount in eight tranches – ₹ 3,000 crore each in two instalments, ₹2,000 crore and ₹ 1,000 crore in three instalments each during the period. The open market borrowings would start with ₹1,000 crore on April 11 and ₹2,000 crore on April 26. This will be followed by ₹8,000 crore in three instalments in May - ₹3,000 crore on May 2, ₹2,000 crore (May 17) and ₹ 3,000 crore (May 31).
The Government indicated that it would raise the remaining ₹4,000 crore in two instalments of ₹1,000 crore each (June 7 and 28) and ₹2,000 crore on June 14. The RBI said it had announced that quantum of market borrowings in consultation with the State Governments/Union Territories for the quarter April – June of the current fiscal.
The actual amount of borrowings would depend on the requirement of the State Government, approval from the Government of India under Article 293(3) of the Constitution and the market conditions, the RBI said in the indicative calendar of market borrowings for the quarter released late Tuesday evening.
The government had made a provision for raising ₹ 59,672 crore during the current fiscal in the budget presented to the State Legislature last month for meeting its financial commitments. Prime among the schemes that require huge expenditure are – newly introduced Dalit Bandhu for which a provision of over ₹17,000 crore was made in the budget followed by Rythu Bandhu, the farmers investment support scheme which entailed annual outgo of around ₹16,000 crore.
This apart, there has been a significant rise in the expenditure on account of salaries/wages and pensions which grew to close to ₹40,000 crore following implementation of the revised pay scales for all categories of employees. Given the rise in the commitments coupled with decline in Central releases in the form of grants in aid and contributions, the government had decided to opt for open market borrowings, but duly adhering to the norms set under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act.
The State has raised around ₹49,000 crore through open market borrowings during the previous financial year.
